SD lawmakers support teacher dismissal bill

SACRAMENTO  Despite reservations over some details, two San Diego County lawmakers lined up with the rest of the Assembly Education Committee Wednesday to unanimously pass legislation that would make it simpler to fire teachers accused of sex crimes against children and other serious offenses.

“Clearly it’s a lot better than what we have now,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, who dealt with teacher dismissals as a former San Diego Unified School District trustee.

“This has always been a very convoluted and very complex process. I am glad to see there are efforts to begin to clean it up,” she said. “The process we currently have doesn’t appear to be fair to anyone.” Weber cautioned that there must be safeguards against unfounded accusations that “can shatter lives.”

Rocky Chávez, R-Oceanside, called the legislation “movement in the right direction.” However, Chávez said he was disappointed in a seven-month deadline to settle accusations.

“Harming a child is something that definitely should not be tolerated in our society,” he said. “I understand due process, but due process needs to be done in an efficient and effective manner. Seven months seems to be an awfully long time.”

The process can now take longer, sometimes take years.

Assembly Bill 375 would make a number of changes to the teacher dismissal process. Most importantly, it proposes:

• Maintaining the right of districts to remove a teacher accused of sex crimes against children to be removed from the classroom at any time.

• Permitting districts to use evidence older than four years in cases of suspected child abuse or sex abuse as long as an administrative law judge deems it “relevant.”

• Speeding the dismissal hearings process with tighter deadlines and requiring that cases be settled within seven months.

• Allowing the teacher and district to mutually agree to a dismissal hearing before a single administrative law judge rather than an appointed “Commission on Professional Competence.”

• Changing the membership of some of the panelists who will review certain cases.

San Diego Unified lobbyist Martha Alvarez said the district has not taken a position on the bill. However, she said the bill needs to be more clear in allowing districts to put teachers on leave without pay. And the district opposes the 60-day rule to turn evidence over to accused teachers.

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, an Alamo Democrat and chair of the Education Committee, is carrying the legislation.

Among her goals, Buchanan said, is to “ensure the safety of our children” and “fix an expensive and redundant appeals process.” Another is to “ensure due process for employees.”

Buchanan came under fire last year for being one of two lawmakers who blocked legislation that would have made it even easier for districts to terminate teachers suspected of sexual abuse and other offenses.

Next stop for Assembly Bill 375 is the Judiciary Committee. Gov. Jerry Brown has not taken a position.